Sterilizer cabinet



March 22, 1932. A, R 1,850,923

STERILIZER CABINET Filed Nov. 8, 192a z-sneets-snet 1' lNVENTORWITNESSES I 2e @Ylberbflanzer Qa'a'sfiwa/ BY March 22, A DANZERSTERILIZER CABINET 2 Sheets-Sneak Filed Nov. 8, 1928 INVENTOR- dlkegflanzen ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 22, 1932 I DJZSTATES PATENT QFFICE;

ALBERT DANZER, orIHAeRRsTown, MARYLAND; THE IIAGERsTown' BANK AND TRUSTconning; or 'nAe RsTown, AR LAND, ADMINISTRATOR or SAID ALBERT DANZER,DECEASED, ASSIGN'OR To ROY, DANZER, or nAeRRs owN, MARYLAND STEBILIZERCABINET Application filed I ioveniber 8, 1928. Serial No. 318,066.

- This invention relates to'improve'ments in sterilizers,- and itconsists of the. constructions, combinations and arrangements heremdescribed and claimed; y

An object of the inventionis. to. provide an all-metal.cabinet forsterilizing milk cans, dairy utensils of all sorts, etc..by the alter.-nate. use of what may. aptly be termed live steam and dry heat: I

' Another ob'ect of the invention isto provide a sterilizing cabinethaving-anarrangement of perforate and imperforate coils into which steamis alternately turned from a commonsource, first to fill the cabinetwithlive steam, nextto dry the interior of the cabinet. l A A. A furtherobject of the invention is to slightly pitch the pipe components of eachcoil for the double purpose of causingthe drainage of the interior ofthe coils and of causing the moisture accumulating on the outside ofthecoils to run down toward the sides of the cabinet where thevariouselbows 01' joints will act as drip edges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sterilizing cabinet inwhich the door is hinged upon a front wall of a substantial width,thearrangement 'makingthe door opening as narrow as possible so that theloss of heat will be reduced to aminimum when the necessity-for openingthe door ar rives. e I. i A further object of the invention is tocontrol the flow of steam to the perforate and imperforate coils with asingle two-way valve. V T i p I Other objects and advantages appear'inthefollowing specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings in which, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one type ofsterilizer cabinet, the door being closed, Figure 2 is a perspectiveview of thesame cabinet, the door beingopen, I

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the perforate and imperforate coils, I1

Figured is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a' vertical sectlon taken on the line 5-,5 of'Figure 1,

vertical corners of'the cabinet.

' Figure 6 is a detail cross section taken, on the line 66 of Figure 1,

Figure7 is a detail sectional view partic- A ularly illustrating howthewater of condensation will run down the pitched pipe components ofeach coil, r

Figure 8 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 88 ofFigure 1. I

The increasingly rigid requlrements in many communities for theimportation of milk of a low bacterial count, commonly known as grade Amilk, imposes the necessity of sterilizing the cans or other containersin which the milk is transported. The sterilizing cabinet hereindisclosed meets all of the requirements of a device for the purposestated, but in doing this it has been made a consideration toproduce acabinet of an extremely simple construction, yet of such a constructionthat its simplicity contributes largely to the efficiency of thecabinet, rather thandetract therefrom.

Another large contribution toward the efficiency of the cabinet residesin the particular mode of handling the steam which is used as thesterilizing element. Live steam is first turned into the cabinet,-thusto fill the cabinet and have its sterilizing effect upon the milk cans.For this purpose one of two setsofcoils on which the cans rest is madeperforate. The flow of steam is presently diverted to the other andimperforate set of coils. Heat is then radiated from the latter set ofcoils for the purpose of drying up the moisture in the cabinet.

' With these brief statements attention is directed tothe drawings. Thecabinet is generally indicated 1. "In practice it is capable ofproduction in a number of styles or types, but the following principlesare common in all of the types. It comprises back and side walls 2 and 3(Fig. 4). These walls are formed from a single sheetof material. Theystand vertically, and the bends at which the back and side walls aredefined form the rear This sheet of material is also bent to. form frontportions 4 and 5. The bends by which these portions are formed comprisethe front vertical corners of the cabinet.

The portion 5 is wider than the portion 4. It is herein known as a frontwall of substantial width. Its purpose is to reduce the width of theopening 6 in which the door 7 swings much as possible, so that the lossof heat from the cabinet will be reduced to a mini? mum when the door isswung open. The door must be openedfrom tiine to time to exchange cans.The fro'nt wall 5 and adjacent side wall 3 define a closed corner 8within the cabinet and adjacent to the hinges 9 of'the door which willserve to pocket the hot air and prevent the entire volume of hot airfrom escaping. p I I Plates 10 and 11 form the top and bottom of thecabinet. All four edges are capped over the various walls of the cabinetas at 12. Theportions designated 12 are flan es which lit down over theoutside of the walls of the cabinet. They might be fitted on the insidebut it is preferable to have them on the outside for the followingreasons :-The corners 13 formed by the two plates and side walls (Fig.6) are permanently sealed and rounded off by fillets 14- of solder. Theflanges 12 and'side walls are first riveted at 15. The rivets and solderfillets not only compose indestructible joints but also joints which arereadily cleaned out.

At each corner a heavy angle iron bar 16 is riveted or otherwise securedtothe cabinet and extends below the bottom plate 11 to provide legs. Thebars reinforce the vertical corners previously mentioned. They make thecabinet absolutely rigid so that the cabinet will not be rendered shakyin ordinary use. Reverting to the door 7, it is to be observed in Figure8 that this is composed of two thicknesses of material, separated agiven distance to define a dead airspace 17. The four edges of the doorare flanged as shown in one instance at 18 in Figure 8. These flangescontact the front of the cabinet when the door is closed.

In order to provide the door with an abutment the portions surroundingthe openings 6 are bent in and flanged as shown in one instance at 19and 20 in Figure 8, the door fitting within the bent in portions 19 andhearing against the flanges 20. Suitable fasteners 21 seal the doortightly within its opening. The arrangement provides a two-point contactwhen the door is closed, the use of the fasteners 21, which in practicewill be cam operated latches, will establish an almost air tight sealfor the door.

Two sets of coils occupy the cabinet. They are so associated that theyform rests upon which milk cans can be stood in the inverted position. Amilk can M is so shown on one of the rests in Figure 7. The sets ofcoils are spaced from each other in the vertical direction thus to formtop and bottom plat-forms. One set of coils 22 is perforated. and whensteam is turned into the set the interior of has a single pipeconnection 25 to the source" of steam. At'urn of the valve handle to theright will directthe steam into the'coils 22, and a turn to the leftwill direct it into the coils 23. A single control accomplishes thepurpose. The lower extremities of the coils terminate in pet cocks 26.

.These will be opened either to drain the coils or to permit the escapeofentrapped air.

For example, the filling of the imp'erforate coils 23 with steam wouldbe impeded if a pet cock were notprovided for the purpose of letting outthe air. Upon turning the handle of the valve 24 to the left theappropriate pet cock 26 should be opened until steam blows out. The petcock should then be closed, and he operator will know that the heatingcoil is filled with steam.

Generally the so-called platforms will be substantially level; But thepipe components of the coils will be given slight pitches in oppositedirections for two purposes, first to cause the complete drainage of thepipes when thecabinet is temporarily out of operation, second to causethe moisture condensed upon the coils to run down toward the sides 3 ofthe cabinet. Here the various elbows 27 will act as drip edges;

There is a very definite advantage in so leading the water ofcondensation to the sides of the cabinet. The water should not bepermitted to drip to the bottoms of the cans. Usually milk cans eitherhave concavities in thebottoms or are ribbed to form depressions. If thewater were permitted to drip from the coils inthe central portions ofthe cabinet it would form pools in the bottoms of the cans and set up anobjectionablecondition when removing the cans from the cabinet.

By giving thecomp'onents the slight pitch mentioned, the water is ledoff to the sides where it can drip downbeside the cans, settle on thebottom of the cabinet and thus assure a perfectly drycondition of thecans when the time for removal arrives. Reference is made toFigure 7..The pitch of the pipe components of the lower coils is plainlyindicated. The directions of movement of the drippings d is alsoindicated. These drippings will stop when the end elbows 27 are reached,and will drop off from the edges of the elbows.

Racks 28 and 29 support the pipe components of thetop' and bottomplatforms (Fig. 5). These racks may be constructed in any suitablemanner, the use therein of angle irons being preferable principallybecause of the strength and cheapness thereof. The ends of the angleirons in the top rack are supported in any known manner. 'The angleirons of the bottom rack are simply laid on the bottom 11. The spacingof the bottom coils from the bottom plate facilitates the cleaning ofthe cabinet. The angle irons are of V-shape, and being inverted tosupport the coils from watersheds for moisture accumulating thereon.

A cock permits the drainage of the cabinet. The bottom plate 11 ispitched toward the outlet. In practice the cook 30 will be connected toa point of discharge remote from the cabinet, particularly in instanceswhere the cabinet is a permanent installation. The cabinet may be movedaround from place to place, when the cock 30 would not have a permanentoff take connection, and when steam would be let to the pipe connection25 through a flexible hose.

The operation of the sterilizer cabinet is readily understood. Milk cansM or other receptacles and utensils will be rested upon the top andbottom platforms defined by the two sets of coils 22 and 23. One ofthese has holes While the other has not. After the cabinet is loadedwith cans and the like the door 7 is closed. The arrangement of flangesthe cans. The latter are stood upside down on the platforms. After agiven period thehandle of the valve will be turned to the left. Steamwill now fill the imperforate coils 23. Dry heat will be given off, andthe heat will dry up the moisture'from the cans and other parts of thecabinet.

Any water of condensation on the pipe components of the coils will bedirected toward the elbows 27 adjacent to the sides 3 of the cabinet.The water will drip off from certain edges of the elbows and dropdirectly to the bottom of the cabinet. Thus the collection of pools ofwater on the bottoms of the cans is avoided, and upon opening the door 7the cans will be taken out in a perfectly dry condition.

The front wall 5 keeps in much of the hot air.

temperature can be maintained with a lower boiler pressure thanotherwise. The impor- Of course the door 7 must be opened at times andsome of the hot air will escape.

tance of soldering all internal joints of the cabinet has beenemphasized. The lodging of grease, dirt or germs that might interferewith thorough sterilization is prevented.

No wood is used in the construction of the cabinet. All of the parts aremade of metal. But these parts are relatively few in number so that asimple construction is arrived at, and they are put together in such away that the cabinet has all requisite strength.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved sterilizingcabinet is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modificationsand changes may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the claims.

I claim 1. A sterilizer, comprising a cabinet, perforate and imperforatecoils within the cabinet, and a two-Way valve to the opposite ports ofwhich the coils are connected, the central port being the terminal of asource of steam. 2. A sterilizer comprising a cabinet, and a coilcomprising connecting elbows and pipe components which the elbowsconnect, the Various pipe components being pitched in respect to theelbows so that moisture collecting on said components will run down tothe elbows and drip off at certain edges thereof.

3. A sterilizer comprising a cabinet, and a coil in a substantiallyhorizontal plane to form a platform for a receptacle to be sterilized,said coil comprising pipe components having connecting means adjoiningopposite sides of the cabinet, said pipe components being alternatelypitched toward said sides and connecting means so that moisture condensing on said components will run to opposite sides of the cabinet anddrip off from said connecting means at places adjacent to the sides ofthe cabinet and avoid collecting a pool of water upon said receptacle.

4. A sterilizer comprising a cabinet having a peripherally flanged topand bottom, back, side and front portions to which the topand bottom areapplied and over which the flanges extend forming corners around theinside of the. cabinet at the ends, means by which the flanges aresecured to said portions, and fillets of solder running along saidcorners supplementing the securing of the flanges and making sealedjoints.

ALBERT DANZER.

